


Punches and Pizza

by Olsies



Series: At Least I'm Not As Sad As I Used To Be [1]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Ben Hanscom, Nonbinary Ben Hanscom, Nonbinary Character, nb lesbian ben hanscom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28491816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olsies/pseuds/Olsies
Summary: On the first warm day of the year, Ben is lying under a tree with their head in their girlfriend Bev’s lap. Ben knows they are biased but they can’t help thinking that Bev isthe prettiestwoman on the planet, especially when the sun shines through the leaves and her hair. Her beauty is just so much that sometimes Ben forgets to breathe.Sighing, Ben reaches up and curls their fingers around Bev’s ankle. Smiling, she looks down at them as she brushes some hair out of their face.“Hey you, you ok?” Bev asks.“Mhmm. Sleepy.”“Eddie and Bill will be back with the coffee in just a minute.” She leans over and kisses Ben’s forehead before she begins stroking their hair. Closing their eyes, Ben sighs again while they listen to their friends complain about classes and homework.Ben is just drifting off when they hear it.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, side mike/bill, side stan/richie/eddie
Series: At Least I'm Not As Sad As I Used To Be [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115192
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	Punches and Pizza

**Author's Note:**

> cw: f slur and d slur are used

On the first warm day of the year, Ben is lying under a tree with their head in their girlfriend Bev’s lap. Ben knows they are biased but they can’t help thinking that Bev is _the prettiest_ woman on the planet, especially when the sun shines through the leaves and her hair. Her beauty is just so much that sometimes Ben forgets to breathe.

Sighing, Ben reaches up and curls their fingers around Bev’s ankle. Smiling, she looks down at them as she brushes some hair out of their face.

“Hey you, you ok?” Bev asks.

“Mhmm. Sleepy.”

“Eddie and Bill will be back with the coffee in just a minute.” She leans over and kisses Ben’s forehead before she begins stroking their hair. Closing their eyes, Ben sighs again while they listen to their friends complain about classes and homework.

Ben is just drifting off when they hear it.

“Look at the fucking _dykes_!” someone yells.

Jolting up, Ben looks around. They see a group of men about their age. The one who’d spoken is Henry Bowers, a complete and total asshole who’d been in their Sociology 101 class two years before. Bev puts a hand on Ben’s shoulder, starts to say something, but falls silent as they watch Richie scramble to his feet.

“What the fuck did you just say, dip shit?” Richie has his fists raised and Ben has a _very bad feeling_ about this.

“I said, _look at the fucking dykes_! What are you going to do about it, _faggot_?” Bowers taunts.

Richie ignores his friends’ protests and walks over to Bowers, slamming his fist into Bowers’s face, both of them crying out in pain.

“Richie!” Eddie yells as Bowers grabs Richie’s collar and punches him _hard_. He drops the coffees and breaks out into a run to get to his boyfriend. Richie’s glasses go flying and everyone is trying to get up as Bowers continues to punch Richie. Even though Eddie has a head start, Ben gets to them first.

Pulling Bowers back by his shirt, Ben’s heart races as they slam their fist into Bowers’s shocked face. Pain blooms through their hand and up their arm, but they ignore it as they just keep slamming their fist into Bowers’s face until Mike’s strong hands pull Ben back.

“Stop, Ben, stop,” Mike yells into their ear as they try to struggle away.

“Fucking- Just let me-” Ben struggles.

Two guys with Bowers help him to his feet, both of them glaring at Ben. Once on his feet, Bowers spits blood. His face is a wreck. Ben can’t help but smile, and their smile widens when they see Bowers’s blood on their knuckles.

“You are such a fucking _freak_!” Bowers yells.

Ben tries to tug free, but Mike just holds tighter.

“Shut the fuck up, Henry,” one of the other men says as they pull Henry away.

“Listen to your friend, Bowers, or I’ll kick your ass again,” Ben growls.

Bowers opens his mouth to say something, but his friends pull him away.

“C’mon.” Mike tugs Ben to their friends. Richie is on his knees whimpering, his fist held to his chest.

“Richie, let me see your hand!” Eddie nearly sobs.

“Come on, baby boy,” Stan tries. “It’s going to be ok. Just let us see it.”

“No, no, no, no,” Richie moans.

“What’s wrong with him?” Mike asks.

“I th- think he b- broke his th- thumb,” Bill says.

“How?!” Mike demands.

“He probably put his thumb inside his fist,” Ben says, pushing through the group. Ben kneels next to Richie, brushes some of his hair back, and whispers, “Come on, Rich. Let me see your hand.”

Sobbing, Richie slowly pulls his hand away from his chest, and Ben can see it’s already bruising and swelling. Eddie immediately begins to gag and he pushes himself away. Stan sighs and kisses Richie’s temple.

“Come on, baby boy, time to go pay a little visit to the nurse,” Stan says as he tries to coax Richie to his feet.

Everyone backs up until Richie is standing up and then they silently regroup around him as they walk to the Health and Wellness Center. Eddie and Stan lean close to Richie, talking quietly to him as they walk down the path. Bill and Mike are in the front, Bev and Ben bring up the rear.

“How’s your hand?” Bev asks. She lifts Ben’s hand to inspect it, but it’s hard to really tell if there’s something wrong because it is covered in Bowers’s blood.

Flexing it a little, Ben sighs. “Knuckles are a little sore, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Leaning closer, Bev kisses Ben’s cheek. “I’m glad you’re ok.”

“I’m fine. Are you ok?” Ben asks. Ignoring the pain, Ben laces their fingers together and squeezes lightly.

“I’m-” She shrugs and lets out a sigh. “I’m just so fucking tired, you know?” She laughs a little mirthlessly. “Wish we could have just one week go by without being harassed, you know?”

Nodding, Ben kisses her cheek. “I know.”

Bev smiles at them softly. “I love you so much.”

“Love you, too.”

When they get to the Health and Wellness Center, Ben and Bev find a bathroom so they can wash up and assess the damage. Fortunately Ben’s knuckles are just a little bruised, and Ben knows they just need time.

Ben and Bev go back to join Mike and Bill as they wait for Richie, Eddie, and Stan to come back out. The other two had gone in with Richie to hold his hand. Ben wants to lean into Bev, but they just take Bev’s hand and lean sideways a little so they can look at Bev while they talk quietly.

Nearly an hour later, Richie comes out with a bandaged face and hand, but he seems to be in better spirits. He comes right over to Bev and Ben, pulls them into a group hug.

“Are you two ok?” Richie asks.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Bev says.

“Are you ok?” Ben asks and Richie begins to giggle.

“They gave him some really strong pain meds,” Stan explains as he pulls Richie back up. “Come on baby, let’s go get some food in you.”

“I want pizza!” Richie yells. Eddie shushes him. “No! I want _three_ pizzas!” Richie yells even louder.

“Come on, you annoying shit,” Eddie says, taking Richie’s good hand. He all but drags Richie out of the building.

Bill, Mike, Bev, and Ben just laugh.

“G- Guess Ri -Richie is f- fine if E- Eddie’s already t- teasing him,” Bill says. They all laugh again.

They get up and follow the others to their dorm room where Ben pulls Bev into their lap while they wait for pizza.

Ben sits there just sort of drifting in their thoughts. Bowers is such a fucking asshole, Ben doesn’t know why he is still at school, he clearly hates it. Ben wishes Bowers would just leave them the fuck alone, no. That would be too easy.

Sighing, Ben leans forward and kisses Bev behind her ear while she talks to Stan about some math problem they’d been working on all week.

Turning a little, Bev faces Ben. “Yes, darling?”

Ben shakes their head. “Nothing. Just wanted to make sure you knew how much I love you.”

Bev smiles widely. “I love you, too.” She leans over and kisses Ben on the lips, cupping their face so gently. Ben deepens the kiss and they continue to make out until Stan starts throwing popcorn at them.

Laughing, Ben and Bev pull apart.

“Can we help you?” Ben asks.

“Uh, Bev and I _were_ in the middle of a conversation,” Stan points out. They all laugh. Bev kisses the tip of Ben’s nose and squirms a little in Ben’s lap until she’s comfortably facing Stan. Without asking, she shoves her feet into Stan’s lap and they keep talking math until the pizza comes.

Richie answers the door and begins to cry when he sees all the pizzas and Bill has to get up to save the pizza delivery person as Richie tries to hug them.

A few minutes later, someone hands them both pizza and Ben finally lets themself fully relax. Everything is going to be ok. Everyone is safe, and getting fed, and they are just going to stay in and relax, and just for once the good is outweighing the bad, at least for the moment.

Ben sighs around a mouthful of pizza and Bev squeezes their knee in silent acknowledgement. Ben smiles at her, tightening their grip around her waist.

For the moment everything is ok, and Ben closes their eyes, leaning their head into Bev’s shoulder wishing the moment could last forever.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this. i wanted to start the year off right with this little ficlet cause i love me some nb lesbian ben.
> 
> if you want more nb lesbian ben/bev, come follow me on [tumblr](https://nblesbianbenhanscom.tumblr.com/)!


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